H-1B Visas

The number of applications for H-1B visas – reserved for foreign professionals seeking to work in skilled positions in the United States – is expected to rise this year, and employers need to prepare accordingly.

The law caps the number of available visas at 85,000 (with 20,000 reserved for those with a master’s degree), and the 85,000 recipients are chosen at random through a lottery system. … Read More

Starting October 18, as part of a new tracking system, the Department of Homeland Security will collect social media and internet data on U.S. immigrants, including lawful permanent residents, and naturalized citizens. This new plan will coincide with the start of the White House’s new travel restrictions on citizens from Chad, Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, North Korea, and Venezuela.

The data collection plan covers things like Facebook and Twitter, and potentially even Google search results. … Read More

The White House plans to formally announce that it will cap the number of refugees who will be able to resettle in the United States to 45,000, according to numerous news outlets. This is the lowest annual level set since the passage of federal legislation in 1980 that gave this power to the president. Last year, President Obama set the annual cap at 110,000, although far fewer refugees actually arrived in the United States.… Read More

Following a Wednesday night meeting with President Trump, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Chuck Schumer now say they have reached a deal with the White House to quickly pass legislation protecting DACA recipients, also known as “Dreamers,” from deportation, alongside a budget package for border security measures. This announcement comes only eight days after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the DACA program, instituted by Obama to halt deportations of people who came to the United States as children, would be coming to an end.… Read More

As the NMM Immigration Blog recently reported, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to begin winding down the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA).… Read More

As expected, the Department of Justice just announced that the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals—known as DACA—has been rescinded. Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivered the news in a morning press conference at the Department of Justice.

The Attorney General noted that the Department of Homeland Security has developed a plan to begin the “immediate wind-down” of the DACA program.… Read More

Many Deportees Were Non-Criminal, Tax Paying Immigrants with American Citizen Spouses and Children Who Have Lived in the United States for Years.

In a shocking statement just released, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported that it deported nearly 410,000 immigrants in 2012 – a number that shocked many and has exceeded the number of deportees from years prior. In the statement, ICE Director John Morton stated that the large amount of deportations in 2012 was the product of “smart and effective immigration enforcement” so as to deport only those immigrants considered “high priority” and have serious criminal histories.… Read More

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Flanked by his counterparts from Mexico and Canada, President Obama on Monday reiterated his commitment to pursuing comprehensive immigration reform, despite his packed political agenda and the staunch opposition such an initiative is likely to face.

Mr. Obama predicted that he would be successful but acknowledged the challenges, saying, “I’ve got a lot on my plate.” He added that there would almost certainly be “demagogues out there who try to suggest that any form or pathway for legalization for those who are already in the United States is unacceptable.”

But in the most detailed outline yet of his timetable, the president said that he expected Congress, after completing work on health care, energy and financial regulation, to draft immigration bills this year.… Read More

Obama Administration Denies Legal Immigrant’s Release from Immigration Custody, following Two Years of Confinement, Arguing that the Father of Three has No Rights.

York, Penn – (Jan 27, 2012) – With two years of continued immigration detention and no release date in sight, President Barack Obama’s Administration refused to release Robert Bautista from confinement at the York Immigration Detention Facility. Bautista, a long-time Easton, Pennsylvania resident, father of three and a Lawful Permanent Resident for over twenty five years, must now remain incarcerated for years, while his deportation case works its way through the immigration appellate court system.… Read More